Baby Hanging Out to Dry

A sudden flick snatches my eye.

Against the spilt ink of night,
a spider's web is vibrating. Why?

A fly made dozy by the cold
has fallen in the fine net. It kicks

and gets sticky. Zim! Zim! Zim!
The see-through wings get stuck.

From the dark corner a spider awakes
from a Jurassic sleep. The web trembles.

The spider skates down over its lines.
One last struggle from the fly. Zim! Zim!

The spider arrives and wraps its legs
around the blue body; an act of love.

The fangs bear down and kiss the fly.
The fly shudders and goes limp.

The spider wraps its kill in silk
swaddling and skates back up to its lair.

I look again in the morning
and see baby hanging out to dry.